There is a short answer to what DPS is, and a longer one about why it matters — both are here.

Short answer

In practical terms: know what it does, know where it appears, and the rest is context.

Two similarly named things exist, and mixing them up explains a lot of contradictory advice. The wiki entry is thorough and buries the actually useful part six paragraphs down. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep.

How it connects to the rest of Overwatch 2

Knowing this does not make you better at Overwatch 2, but it does make the rest of it legible. Community shorthand around it has drifted far enough from the original meaning to cause arguments. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work. Its role has changed across updates, so older discussion describes something slightly different.

It appears in supplementary material in more detail than it does in the game. Everything below is framed around the current state of Overwatch 2 rather than a launch-week impression. It is more consequential in the late game than the early one, which is why first impressions mislead.

Where you encounter it

Whether it is worth going out of your way for depends entirely on how you are playing. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. There is a persistent myth attached to it that has never been true in any version.

  • Note where it first appears, so you can go back if you need to.
  • Ignore the myth attached to it; it has never held up.
  • Write down what you changed, so you can undo exactly one thing if it goes sideways.
  • Check which version of Overwatch 2 any discussion of it is describing.

What it is

The game introduces it quickly and assumes you picked it up, which is where the confusion starts. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows.

If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different.

What it changes in practice

What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration.

Overwatch 2 is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds.

Why people keep asking about it

Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about.

Where people go wrong

  • Ignoring the platform-specific note and then wondering why the steps do not line up.
  • Grinding a method that was patched months ago because a thread still ranks well.
  • Downloading a helper tool for something the game already does in its own menu.
  • Trusting a video thumbnail that promises a result the video never actually shows.

Overwatch 2 FAQ

Is this still accurate after the latest Overwatch 2 update?

The method is; individual numbers may not be. If a value on your screen differs, trust the screen and keep the sequence.

Why do other guides describe this differently?

Most were written for an earlier version and never revisited. Compare the steps against what your build actually shows.

Does this work the same on console and PC?

The logic is identical. Menu paths and button prompts differ, and any real difference is flagged above.

Is it important?

More than its screen time implies, less than the discussion around it implies. Somewhere in the middle.

If you only take one thing from this: the answer near the top is the part that matters, the rest is context.